McCain Letter to Sinclair Broadcast on
Preemption of Nightline
Fri Apr 30 2004 11:29:49 ET
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) issued the
following
letter today to Mr. David Smith, President and CEO of Sinclair Broadcast
Group,
in response to the preemption of this evening's Nightline program:
I write to strongly protest your decision to instruct Sinclair's ABC
affiliates to preempt this evening's Nightline program. I find deeply
offensive
Sinclair's objection to Nightline's intention to broadcast the names and
photographs of Americans who gave their lives in service to our country
in Iraq.
I supported the President's decision to go to war in Iraq, and remain a
strong supporter of that decision. But every American has a
responsibility to
understand fully the terrible costs of war and the extraordinary
sacrifices it
requires of those brave men and women who volunteer to defend the rest
of us;
lest we ever forget or grow insensitive to how grave a decision it is
for our
government to order Americans into combat. It is a solemn
responsibility of
elected officials to accept responsibility for our decision and its
consequences,
and, with those who disseminate the news, to ensure that Americans are
fully
informed of those consequences.
There is no valid reason for Sinclair to shirk its responsibility in
what I
assume is a very misguided attempt to prevent your viewers from
completely
appreciating the extraordinary sacrifices made on their behalf by
Americans
serving in Iraq. War is an awful, but sometimes necessary business.
Your decision
to deny your viewers an opportunity to be reminded of war's terrible
costs,
in all their heartbreaking detail, is a gross disservice to the public,
and to
the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. It is, in short,
sir,
unpatriotic. I hope it meets with the public opprobrium it most
certainly
deserves.